1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transducer enhanced stethoscope and more particularly pertains to providing a stethoscope with a transducer for indicating the body temperature and pulse rate of a human subject.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of a stethoscope is known in the prior art. More specifically, stethoscopes heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of transmitting sounds from a body are known to consist basically of familiar, expected, and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which has been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,072,822 to Yamada discloses a two-way stethoscope for direct and amplified sound. U.S. Pat. No. 5,252,787 to Moore and Harley discloses a stethoscope. U.S. Pat. No. 4,783,813 to Kempka discloses an electronic sound amplifier stethoscope with visual heartbeat and blood flow indicator. U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,794 to Kilppert et al. discloses an acoustical amplifying stethoscope. U.S. Pat. No. 3,444,954 to Scanlon discloses a stethoscope. Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,489 to Bell and McKay discloses an endotracheal tube/stethoscope/transmitter combination.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe transducer enhanced stethoscope that allows the heart rate and skin temperature of a body to be determined with the present invention, in addition, enhancing the audio carried from the pickup head of the present invention.
In this respect, the transducer enhanced stethoscope according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of providing a stethoscope with a transducer for indicating the body temperature and pulse rate of a human subject.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved transducer enhanced stethoscope which can be used for providing a stethoscope with a transducer for indicating the body temperature and pulse rate of a human subject. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.